Health literacy – a new piece of the puzzle in psoriasis care?

Summary

Background

Health literacy (HL), the ability to seek, understand and utilize health information, is important for good health. Suboptimal HL has been associated with poorer health outcomes in other chronic conditions, although this has not previously been studied in patients with psoriasis.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to investigate the HL strengths and weaknesses of a cohort of patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. Another aim was to examine possible associations between patients' quality of life, their demographic, clinical and self‐management characteristics and dimensions of HL.

Methods

A cross‐sectional study was conducted. Data were collected from a cohort of patients with psoriasis who had participated in climate helio therapy from 2011‐2016 (N= 825). HL was assessed by the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ). The association between HL domains, demographic, clinical and self‐management variables was analysed using bivariate correlation and a four‐step linear multiple regression model.

Results

The scores on all HLQ dimensions indicate lower health literacy compared to other populations. The linear regression models showed a significant association between HL, quality of life and self‐management variables, with higher HL predicting higher quality of life, self‐efficacy, and psoriasis knowledge. Sex, educational attainment, age and disease severity had less influence on health literacy.

Conclusions

Improving HL may be a useful strategy for reducing disparities in self‐management skills for patients with psoriasis. Interventions that aim to reduce disease severity and increase psoriasis knowledge, self‐ efficacy and quality of life may positively increase HL.

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